Title: Intended
Author: xxxkia
Rating: T
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Prompt #13: "Hate you? I'm in love with you, you stupid bint!"
Synopsis: Draco's intention was to tell Hermione his feeling by Valentine's Day. He had a speech and all; it was a cheesy, funny, heartfelt and disgustingly romantic but it was the perfect speech and he had been rehearsing it for months now. But what came out in the end was "I'm in love with you, you stupid bint!" and well, there went that planned speech…
A/N: Thanks to my betas, SKDMHG and Dramione84! I don't own anything! This was written for the Strictly Dramione Valentine's Fest on Facebook! Enjoy :D
Strictly Dramione Valentine's Fest 2017
Intended by xxxkia
Valentine's Day, Leaky Cauldron
Draco was frowning while nursing his firewhiskey.
He was sitting at a table in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron, watching a couple on another table a few feet away. His glance wandered over to them every now and then and every time he did that, his frown deepened.
The couple was quietly conversing with each other: with the woman's back towards him, he could see the bloke's face and how he was leering at his date as if she was some sort of delicious meal.
Draco took another gulp and then slammed the tumbler a little too hard on the table. His frown became an outright sneer when the women laughed at something her date had said.
Bloody Valentines Day.
He had told himself over and over again that he would tell her by Valentine's Day. In the past year he had waited month after month and then the new year had started he had given himself a deadline; but then January had passed and February started and he still hadn't spoken to her.
And then, this morning, the 14th, he had finally decided to do it. He had walked into the Ministry where she worked like he did every day. He was on his way to her office when he had heard the voices of her and her two best friends.
And Draco had to listen to how she excitedly told them that she had been asked out on a date by a bloke from the Muggle Liaison Office. Once Draco heard that all his determination just disappeared and he had left again, still not telling her.
So now he was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron, stalking the so-called date. The girl, he had been pining for in the last months was sitting there with someone else and in about four hours the day would end and Draco still hadn't told her about his feelings.
Coward!
"You know, if you ever wondered why you weren't sorted into Gryffindor, this is probably why!"
Draco, who was having a near heart attack, glared at Harry Potter, who had suddenly appeared at his table in the dark corner. Harry grinned amused and pulled a chair out for himself.
"And take of that ridiculous hat, Malfoy," Harry added before he ordered three more firewhiskeys.
"What do you want, Potter?" Draco spat, lowering his voice. He then reached up to pull the woolen hat down, so it was covering his hair securely. It was winter and cold and Draco had decided that wearing a dark hat would be better than using the hood from his cloak to hide his bright hair. He glanced at the couple again, hoping they hadn't heard them.
"Don't worry, I put up a Muffliato around us. I'm an Auror after all."
"What do you want, Potter?" Draco repeated, his voice full of anger.
Harry just ignored him.
"You know, did you really think nobody would notice why you come to the Ministry every single day?" Harry said, watching the other wizard interested before his glance fell over to the couple.
"I don't know what you are talking about. Why shouldn't I come to the Ministry?" Draco wanted to know, frowning because his attention was now on Harry more than on the couple.
"Oh, I don't know," Harry mumbled, "probably because you don't even work there!"
"Fine! Whatever, what's it to you?" Draco hissed annoyed.
"She's my best friend, that's what it's to me," Harry answered him calmly before he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking awfully pleased with himself.
Draco narrowed his eyes.
Before he could reply, Ron Weasley had appeared as well, pulling out a chair to sit down next to Harry. Draco sneered.
"What have I missed?" Ron asked while he was busy shuffling some chicken leg in his mouth, which was why his question sounded rather unclear.
"Ask Malfoy, he has been here from the start." Harry dismissed with a grin and Ron then turned towards Malfoy, chewing on his food.
Draco groaned but his attention was caught as the bloke suddenly stood up and left the table, leaving his date behind. Draco followed him with his eyes, disappointingly noting that he had only excused himself to the bathroom.
Suddenly the women turned around, glaring at the three of them.
She got up from the table, stalking over the few feet before she started ranting, gesticulating wildly with her arms.
"I think you have to drop the Muffliato," Draco suggested in Harry's direction as the three of them had just stared at her, because she had been muted by the spell and they couldn't hear a word of the things she was saying.
Harry flicked his wrist.
"... and I can't believe that you showed up here!" the women ended her lecture, looking furious while she glanced to the bathroom every now and then.
"We didn't know the date would be here!" Ron defended, waving the chicken bone in her direction. "You said the date would be at a restaurant, not at the Leaky. You know that Harry and I come here for after-work drinks."
"What is he doing here?" she spat, nodding towards Draco, who had sunk back in his seat, cursing everything and everyone.
Well, at least she hadn't caught him by himself.
"Oh, we invited him to join us." Harry quickly said, smiling apologetic. "We are sorry, Hermione. I only spotted you when I ordered the drinks. Malfoy was already here and obviously had no clue and we had to wait for Ron. We can leave if you want."
Draco had glared at Harry at the mention of them leaving.
Hermione Granger huffed, putting her hands on her hips while she looked at each one of them with narrowed eyes.
Ron chew innocently on a second chicken leg, (god knows where he had got that from), while Harry instantly downed his firewhiskey, indicating that they were ready to go if she wanted them to.
Draco, who had crossed his arms in front of his chest, a dark look on his face, met her glare with equal annoyance, which seemed to surprise her.
"Don't bother, we finished dinner and will pay soon. You can stay and we will leave." Hermione replied cockily before he looked at them again. The fact that Draco was there confused her and she looked at him with such an expression before she shook her head and walked back to her table, sitting down at the exact same moment her date came out of the bathroom again.
"That was long," Ron commented while biting in his chicken leg, causing Draco and Harry to stare at him with disgust.
Draco ignored the pair of them in favor of watching how the couple paid and then got up. Hermione giggled at something as the bloke offered her his arm to lead her outside. As they walked to the door, Hermione turned her head to glare one last time at the table of her friends but Harry and Ron were busy discussing something and it was only Draco, who had been looking at her.
She looked surprised once more, but then her smile turned into a satisfied smirk as she held onto the arm of her date tighter, leaning her head against his shoulder as they disappeared out of the pub.
Draco was ready to curse someone.
"Calm down, Malfoy! Have another one," Harry said, pushing a new glass of whiskey towards Draco, who immediately grabbed it and poured it down his throat.
"You should just tell her," Ron added. "She constantly talks about you."
"Shut up," Draco replied before he reached into his robe and pulled out three galleons which he put on the table. Nonetheless, his heart skipped a beat at Ron's words and as he got up to leave, he stopped and nodded towards the two other men.
"See you around. Potter, Weasley."
They watched him leave with an amused expression before Harry turned towards Ron.
"She constantly talks about you?" Harry mocked and Ron shrugged.
"Well, we don't have to tell him that she only complains about him but she does it a lot recently. There is not one conversation where Malfoy doesn't come up. She almost as obsessed as he is."
Harry seemed to think about Ron's words before he took a sip from his own glass, frowning at the fact that their former school enemy had been stalking their best friend in the past year like crazy. When they first noticed it, they had assumed that Draco had something ill in mind but when they realised the actual reason behind his behavior, Harry and Ron had a good laugh about the whole irony.
"He's nicer since the end of war," Harry stated suddenly. "I don't think he would be a bad choice."
Ron shrugged. "As long as he treats her right."
Harry nodded in agreement before he waved the waitress over to order another round of firewhiskey. Their recent insight could only be accepted with a lot of alcohol.
Harry sighed and looked over at Ron, who looked up at the sound. He regarded Harry with a frown before he held something out towards his best friend.
"Chicken?"
two weeks later, Ministry of Magic
She was drunk.
There was seriously no doubt about that, Draco thought when she had made her way over to him.
They were at a charity ball held by the Ministry in order to raise money for St Mungo's new research center. Draco had been invited because he had money and the Golden Trio were invited because they were the Golden Trio.
The evening had been uneventful: Just a lot of talking and hand shaking and drinking.
Draco normally tried to avoid such events but his mother had told him over and over again that as a Malfoy he needed to attend, no matter how much he despised it.
His mother can talk, with her being on vacation with his father and not having to sit through such a boring evening. Especially because he was seated at a table with other investors, who Draco didn't.
And when he had turned around to the table where the Golden Trio was seated and he saw that Hermione had brought her Valentine Day's date from two weeks ago to this ball as her date, the evening was over before it had even begun.
Draco had sat through it and as soon as he was able to get up, he had fled the room and was sitting on the floor in the empty hallway down from the ballroom. And as he was sitting there in his misery, cursing himself once more why he was such a coward, when he had heard the sounds of her heels.
He looked down the hallway where the ballroom was and saw her stagger towards him, her eyes narrowing as she spotted him sitting on the floor. The way she was walking was indication enough that he had probably a few drinks too much.
"Maaalfooy!" she slurred as soon as she spotted him, then she giggled as she stopped a few steps away from him.
"Granger," he drawled disinterested, which made her frown deeper.
"Oh, you've got such pretty hair." she slurred and that's when Draco know that she wasn't just a little tipsy but outright pissed. In her dress is wasn't easy but somehow she managed to get down on her knees as she crawled closer to Draco. "So, so pretty."
As she was about to touch his hair, Draco grabbed her wrist, looking slightly confused, as she started to giggle uncontrollably.
"But I like your eyes as well." She continued, using Draco's grip on her wrist to edge closer before he suddenly flopped on his lap, her face inches from his. "There are pretty, too."
"Uh, thanks," Draco said, letting go of her wrist, which was a bad move because she suddenly latched onto his neck, burying her face in his neck giggling. Then he giggling became sobbing and Draco was completely overwhelmed with what he should do.
"He is such an idiot!" Hermione pulled back, slapping Draco's chest hard.
"Who?" he asked innocently while rubbing the stinging spot with one hand.
"Henry, my date, ex-date, is that a word?" Hermione sobbed. "He was so nice on Valentine's Day and he mentioned this ball, so I invited him as my date, turns out he had only asked me out in the first place to get me to take him to this ball, so he can suck up to his boss to get a promotion."
Draco's face darkened at her words while she lowered her head and hiccuped every now and then, her hands started to fumble with the silver clasp on Draco's vest. He had taken off his robe when he had sat down, it lay discarded next to him.
"Am I really that bad?"
Draco opened his mouth but she suddenly glared at him. "Don't answer that, I don't need you to tell me how bossy and unattractive I am."
Draco closed his mouth again, regarding her with a confused glance. She had cleaned up nicely but not in the sense that she had shown up in a ball gown, dressed up like a fairy.
She wore a dress, one that fitted her quite nicely but it wasn't striking. Just classy like the rest of her clothes. Her hair was still curly and messy but she somehow managed to get them in some sort of bun with tendrils falling out. Her make-up, which wasn't existing anymore thanks to her crying and Draco hadn't been able to get close enough before to see it.
From afar she had looked beautiful nonetheless.
Trying to find the right words to tell her exactly that without sounding rude or with her misunderstanding his words, he took a moment too long to answer, which upset her despite the fact that she told him not to answer.
Which confused Draco even more.
"You know," he started making her look up, blinking. She wasn't trying to talk anymore and her body grew heavier on Draco's lap. When he saw the purple coat in the corner of her eyes, his alarm bells started to go off immediately.
Her eyes started to glass over and her talkative behavior had changed to her being nearly unresponsive, clinging to his neck one more as her head suddenly fell on his shoulder.
She wasn't drunk, she was drugged.
Panicking, Draco looked back to the ballroom, desperately wishing that he could call for Potter and Weasley somehow. As on cue, the door in the distance opened, the light fell on the rather dark hallway and Draco instantly spotted Potter.
As he called him over and told him that Hermione had been given what as a strong sleeping potion, nothing dangerous, just something she needed to literally sleep off, Harry had called for Ron and together they had taken Hermione with them, who had clung to Draco fast asleep.
The next day, Draco was told that Hermione's date had given her the sleeping potion, not because he wanted to make her willing but because he wanted her to go away. After she had found out that he had only used her to get to the charity ball, she had been furious and he had feared that a scene would destroy his chances for a promotion. He had just wanted her to pass out, so she wouldn't tell his boss.
The day after that, a generous donation and a lunch with the Head of the Department of the Muggle Liaison Office later, Draco had made sure that this Henry bloke would ever get a promotion again.
two days later, Ministry of Magic
"He is insufferable!"
Hermione was pacing in Harry's office, who was sitting at his desk, trying to eat his lunch but his best friends were keeping him from it.
"Just the way he walks in here every day, I could wring his neck." Hermione continued, emphasizing her words with the fitting hand gesture.
"Malfoy and his arrogance and, and,... and rudeness" the witch ranted and Harry looked up confused.
"What did he do now?"
"What didn't he do!"
"I talked to Gina and wanted to invite her to Ginny's girls night and Malfoy walked by and gave me that that look… arggg!" Hermione pulled her curls and Harry just continued to eat his lunch, ignoring her.
Just like every other day, he thought silently to himself.
one week later, Ministry of Magic
"What did you do?"
Hermione looked up from the parchment she was signing when she heard the voice. With narrowed eyes she watched as Malfoy was leaning against her doorframe, arms crossed in front of him while he regarded her with his annoying smirk.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Hermione asked with a clipped voice before she looked down again to continue her work.
"There's something wrong with your hair."
"It's called using a brush," Hermione answered with a monotonous voice, signing the parchment with a flourishing swirl. She put the parchment on the pile before she took the next one, inking her quill again.
"I don't like it." Malfoy drawled and Hermione just nodded, continuing her work without looking up once.
"How unfortunate," Hermione mumbled.
"It's not like it doesn't suit you, just that it's not you."
Hermione looked up now, chewing on the end of her quill. She stared at Malfoy with a confused expression, trying to figure out what he wanted from her.
"Again, how unfortunate." she repeated finally, looking down at her parchments.
"Did they do it at your girl's night?"
Hermione sighed, putting her quill down before she raised her head once more. Surprised she jerked as she saw that Malfoy was now standing straight in front of her desk, hands flat on it while he leaned forwards, his glance was scanning her new appearance.
It wasn't like she was about to look like this from now on, with her straighten hair, which was pulled back in a bun and her make-up and manicured finger nails. The girls night had been yesterday and Hermione had just decided to keep the girls' work for one more day.
Everyone had a nice reaction to it and she felt confident about it.
Until Malfoy had shown up.
"I don't quite understand why you care, Malfoy. Should we invite you next time?" Hermione asked with a smirk but she knew that the comeback was weak because Malfoy had the mannerism to always look impeccable.
"Why not? I'm sure I could teach you a thing a two." Malfoy countered and Hermione sighed before she got up and made shooing gestures at him.
"Go play somewhere else, Malfoy. Some people actually have to work," she finally said at last and Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her.
"Fine." He turned around and left but before he disappeared in the hallway, he turned around and looked at her one last time.
"Trust me, Granger. You look better with your actual hair, as much as it reminds me of a bird's nest." He then left and Hermione stared after him astonished.
one week later, Quidditch Pitch
She had no clue who the hell had invited Malfoy.
Malfoy in his stupid, stupid Quidditch uniform.
Hermione had her arms crossed in front of her chest while she looked up frowning. Ginny was sitting next to her and Angelina next to her. Even Gina had come and couldn't take her eyes of Ron, who seemed to be more nervous than normal.
The boys were playing a reduced version, with one beater, one bludger, and only two chasers, because they were lacking players. It was a ritual to meet weekly for the friendly Quidditch match, the teams always varied as there were always different people invited.
It was the first time Malfoy had joined them and Hermione wasn't sure what she thought about it.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Angelina asked, leaning forwards to look past Ginny.
Hermione just shrugged and watched the game and nobody said anything. After a while everyone landed and only then, Hermione realised that she hadn't even paid attention to the game. She couldn't even say which team had won.
But the arrogant smirk on Malfoy's face told her who had won apparently.
"Hermione? Hermione!"
"Uh, what?" She looked over at the girls, who regarded her with a knowing grin.
"You stare everyone down. Are you sure you are alright?"
"Yes, what got into your knickers?" Malfoy asked when he had reached them, smiling confidently at them.
"Not much," Ginny answered his question, which caused her to be glared at by Hermione.
Suddenly, Harry cleared his throat awkwardly and Hermione looked away cheeks heating.
Malfoy just looked at her interested.
one day later, Malfoy Manor
He had a speech.
He had been working on it for over a year and had planned to tell her by Valentine's Day, which he obviously hadn't done.
It was a cheesy, funny, heartfelt and disgustingly romantic but it was the perfect speech. In retrospect, it wasn't exactly him to have something like this but he was desperate and he had no idea how long he could stall.
The last date turned out to be a fake.
But what if she got a real one soon?
another day later, Ministry of Magic
"Another date?" Ron asked with a full mouth and Hermione looked at him while grimacing in disgust.
"Yes," she answered them. "But this time, it's a setup from my mum. Apparently, we went to school together when we are kids and Mum's friends with his mum and somehow they arrange it."
"So, he's Muggle?" Harry wanted to know while he as well watched Ron swallow his lunch without chewing.
"I think so," Hermione shrugged. "Doesn't matter, I promised Mum to give it a try."
"Give what a try?" an all too familiar voice spoke directly behind her and Hermione groaned.
"A date," Ron answered instead and Hermione turned around and pushed past Malfoy and out of Harry's office.
"I'll catch you later," she called after them and rushed down the hallway but it was pointless because as soon as she reached her office, a hand enclosed her wrist and pulled her back.
"Granger, wait."
"No, I won't wait!" Hermione spat and before Malfoy knew what was happening, she had grabbed him by the robes and pulled him into her office, slamming the door shut.
"You know, Malfoy, I had it up to here!" Hermione panted, putting her hand to her neck as her cheeks started to become redder.
"You made fun of me in school and I thought after everything we went through, you have grown up but you come here every day and you tease me and are rude to me and I just can't deal with it anymore." Hermione stepped closer, her chest was almost pressed against his as she stretched her neck in an effort to look up at him. Her eyes were narrowed and her breath labored as she stared him down with obvious anger.
"Leave. Me. Alone." she spat, each word was emphasised by one manicured finger, which she poked in Draco's chest with force.
"What do you want from me?" she then started, her finger still poking the same spot and Draco had to wince now. "Just leave me alone, I mean you come here every day and you don't even work here and you come by my office and comment on every little thing and it drives me barmy, alright, I just can't."
She looked miserable and Draco felt suddenly bad because he had obviously failed completely.
"Granger, listen," Draco started but she shook her head wildly, curls flying around and hitting the blond in the cheek.
She stepped back, tears gathering in her eyes and that's when Draco panicked.
"We aren't kids anymore, Draco," she started to hiccup, her cheeks splotchy and red. "Why do you hate me so much?"
"Hate you? I'm in love with you, you stupid bint!"
Draco froze, his eyes going wide as he realised what he had just screamed in her face.
She was still hiccuping looking at him with equal shock.
"What?" she whispered subdued but Draco had already pushed past her.
"I have to go," he mumbled and dashed out of her office.
The door fell shut and Hermione stared at it in utter confusion.
He was what?
Her younger, bossy voice sounded suddenly in her head and she could hear herself lecturing a crying Ginny that boys were stupid because they think they have to be mean to get the girl's attention. "They will tease you and be mean to you, Gin but that only means that they like you and are too embarrassed to outright tell you."
"Bloody hell," Hermione cursed and run out of her office. She thought she must look like a mess because people were staring at her as she ran past them. She, who always was calm and collected, was running through the Ministry of Magic like a lunatic with red, tear-streaked eyes while she gulped air in her lungs with heavy breaths because it's not like she was one for sports.
When she reached the lifts she debated what to do but the Atrium would probably be the best option. Stepping into the lift, she earned a few more concerned glances and her nervous behaviour all the way to the Atrium wasn't helping.
As soon as they arrived, she pushed her co-workers aside and ran into the full Atrium. Looking for white-blond hair had normally never been a problem, she had learned to spot Draco in a crowd by Second Year but today, this skill was obviously betraying her.
10 minutes later, Ministry of Magic
She was pacing Harry's office with Harry and Ron staring at her. They didn't know what they should do as they watched her friend walking up and down.
"I mean he comes here every day and now this. This was a joke, right? He's joking with me, right?" Hermione raved, pulling her hair.
"Not really," Ron told her. "Everyone knew why he came here every day."
"Yes, because he was invited to all the meetings as an investor. That's why he came her every day."
"Ehh," Harry began, "actually, he wasn't."
"What?" Hermione stopped to stare at him.
"He wasn't officially invited. People just let him be there because he brought checks and all. He really just came here because of you," Harry confessed sheepishly.
"You knew! And you didn't tell me?" Hermione shouted and Harry jerked back.
"We only realised it ourselves recently. You always complained about him and we just...we didn't want to get in the middle."
"What if he doesn't come back?" Hermione wondered nervously. "What if he has given up now?"
"So, you are interested?" Ron asked suddenly and Hermione looked up.
"I guess, I don't know," she admitted. "I have to think about it and I need to cancel that date my Mom set up."
"Don't worry, he came here every day. I'm sure he will return tomorrow." Ron waved her off and Hermione hoped that he was right.
the next day, Ministry of Magic
"He didn't come." she whined the next day, once again in Harry's office.
"So, go to him." Harry just answered sighing.
one hours later, Malfoy Manor
Hermione buried her hands in his hair as she continued to kiss him fiercely. Draco's hands dug into her hips as he stumbled backwards with her in his arms.
"I'm so glad you changed your mind." He murmured in between kisses, his fingers tangled in her curls.
"Shut up." She replied, pushing him further back until he hit the wall with a groan.
less than one year later, their apartment
"You know, I had intended to give you a speech," Draco told her as he leaned back in the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table.
"What speech?" Hermione asked while she tugged her feet beneath his thighs, wriggling them until she was comfortable. She looked up from the book in her lap.
"When I tried to tell you what I feel about you. I had a speech, which I worked for weeks on." Draco admitted looking at the calendar and the 14th on it. "I promised myself to tell you by Valentine's Day but then I overheard you talking about a date."
"Was it a good speech?" Hermione asked smiling.
Draco shrugged. "I probably would have insulted you more than complimented."
"Then it's probably better that you didn't get to tell it to me." the brunette witch chuckled before he pulled her feet back to crawl over to where Draco was sitting.
"What makes you say that? I'm always charming." Draco was offended and frowned but then he grinned as Hermione started to kiss his cheek.
"Sure, so charming." Hermione grinned and Draco laughed before he turned his head, capturing her lips in a kiss.